The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus - Reflection

(from Vincentian Reflections, SVDP USA)

THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS

May 30, 2008

Gospel: (1John 4:7-16)

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.

Reflection:

The human heart is a symbol for the life, love and well-being of an individual. The heart therefore as a symbol tries to capture God’s tremendous love for us, God’s constant care, and the security we find in resting against God’s heart in prayer. The Sacred Heart tells us “not that we love God, but that he loves us.”

Vincentian Reflection:
Frederic wrote: “Love possesses something of the divine nature, which gives itself without diminishing, which shares itself without division, which multiplies itself, which is present in many places at once, and whose intensity is increased in the measure that it gains in extension. In your wife you will first love God…You will draw comfort from her tenderness on bad days, you will find courage in her example in perilous times, you will be her guardian angel, she will be yours.” (Ramson, Praying with Frederic, p.63)

Discussion: (Share your thoughts on the readings after a moment of silence.)

Frederic found his vocation, his primary commitment in life, in marriage where he found the love of God. How have you found the love of God reflected to you?

Closing Prayer: (Together)

Lord Jesus, we dedicate and consecrate to Your divine Person and to Your Sacred Heart this our Conference (Council) and all the the members who compose it, the poor whom we visit in Your name, the youth and children to whom we respond…and all the works we have undertaken in various places for Your Glory… inflame us with that fire which from the depths of Your Heart Thou desire to see burning more and more each day, in order that, filled with the tenderness of Your Heart…we may love and help our neighbor. Give us the grace to live our vocation, loving our spouse, family and others in the example of Frederic and Amelie.

Amen

Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

May 30 this year marks the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This feast day is prominent on the Vincentian Calendar.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has been solemnly consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus since February 5, 1872. An Act of Consecration was drawn up at the request of the Society in 1872, and this act of consecration is renewed annually by all units of the Society.

Click image for prayers. Click for additional prayer site. An interesting article.

Reflections on Trinity Sunday

THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

source: Vincentian Reflections, SVDP USA

May 18, 2008

Gospel: (John 3: 16-18)

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Reflection:

Of all the festivals on the liturgical calendar, this is the one that speaks most to us of pure, unfathomable mystery. We can only know something of God through what God has done for us and how God relates to us-these are the concrete traces of God among us.

This solemnity reminds us that God does not exist in isolation but as a community of
Persons in relationship to each other. The Trinity is a relational God who gives and loves. Do we choose to live an independent existence or a Trinitarian, communitarian, and self-giving way of living? The only way to living the kind of community the Trinity models for us is through love, the self-giving love that creates and sustains life. (Living Liturgy, p. 156)

Vincentian Meditation:

St. Vincent prayed: “O my God, may it please you to be the bond which ties the hearts of evangelizers together in a common attitude of humility, of unity, and of respect for one another…Let the good effects of their mutual affection, which you allow to develop among them, steadily grow and flourish, and make the fruits of their labors for the salvation of souls constantly increase. Strengthen them in their efforts, and be yourself their ultimate reward.” (McKenna, Praying with Vincent, p. 107)

Discussion: (Share your thoughts on the readings after a moment of silence)

Within our conference, does the bond which ties our hearts together produce a common attitude of humility, of unity and of respect for one another?

Closing Prayer:

O Holy Trinity, three Persons in one, we pray, -keep us in the circle of your love.

For all peoples of the earth, created in God’s image, -may we work toward reconciliation and peace. For married couples, parents, and children, -may their mutual love be a reflection of your love. For all of us gathered together, -may our love and service bear witness to God’s care. For all who share in the faith of the Catholic Church,-may we grow in unity, peace and truth. Amen

The Rule

The governing document for Vincentians is the Rule. This document governs the work of the Society. (Click link below to view the Rule.)

RULE OF THE CONFEDERATION INTERNATIONAL
OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL

Charity Run - September 27

September 27 marks the first annual nation-wide Vincentian charity run/walk. Learn more, click the link.

http://www.svdpfriendsofthepoorwalk.org/

Reflection for Pentecost

May the Holy Spirit,

The Spirit of Pentecost,

Help you to clarify what is ambiguous

To give warmth to what is indifferent,

To enlighten what is obscure,

To be before the world true and

Generous witnesses of Christ’s love,

For “no one can live without love.”

Amen.

--from prayers of Pope John Paul the Great

Papal Blessing on 175th Anniversary

His Holiness Benedict XVI imparts the requested Apostolic Blessing to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul on the 175th Anniversary of its founding. (click image to view)